Winner of the prestigious Xeric grant,’Soldiers of God’ loosely parallels, from the perspective of their families and friends, a tribal youth joining a religious extremist group in Central Asia, and an American youth joining the US military. It examines the lives of children growing up during the Cold War from both sides of the conflict, and the emerging religious extremism and militancy that has arisen out of the economic depressions that have ensued. One of the new leaders of the form is Kelly Clancy… Bristles with social importance like Persepolis or Berlin… Automatic contender for best of 2011. Justin Giampaoli, 13 Minutes. A devastating epic that spans continents and generations to explore the toll of war on culture, identity, and humanity… By now, many of us have become desensitized to or exhausted by reality, by the dozens of Iraq War documentaries, the hundreds of feature articles that spotlight Afghanistan, yet Clancy knows how to make such material fresh and new. Clancy is a master storyteller… Soldiers of God is an intricate and highly affecting story, and the artwork is striking and haunting. Nathan Holic, The Florida Review. I was gawking in awe of [her work], primarily because this is what Bob [Crumb] and I only tried to achieve in some of our earlier books… Every few pages one is delightfully surprised to witness visual ideas that have appeared nowhere else. John Thompson, comix pioneer. I cannot heap enough praise on Kelly Clancy’s [work]… Clancy’s memoir confronts the meaninglessness of religiosity for an illiterate and impoverished people living under a totalitarian regime. Her presentation of this topic is fresh and powerful and her frame by frame drawings… Are expressive, animated, beautifully rendered, and brilliantly orchestrated in their movement from frame to frame. Mary Baken, New Pages. I’ve rarely seen a comic come out of nowhere with this level of attention to detail, this much sheer artistry on every page, that also manages to tell such an important and compelling story… Insightful, political and timely, comics this good don’t come out every day. Kevin Bramer, Optical Sloth. [Clancy] illustrates the characters’ feelings and history through letter forms in a way that is simply stunning. Her art creates a sensation more powerful than a statement and a static image could have. Clancy is pushing the comics form in the right direction by creating new and inspired narrative art. She takes every tool at her disposal and consistently renders something potent and lovely. Sarah Morean, Daily Crosshatch.